Avalanche buries six boys

Six teenage boys were missing after an avalanche on a remote mountain slope in Russia’s east Siberian republic of Tyva, the local emergency ministry said yesterday.

One boy survived the accident near the village of Mugur-Aksy close to the Mongolian border, some 5,000km (3,100 miles) south east of Moscow, and alerted rescue teams.

Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Pavel Astakhov said that the teenagers, aged 14-18, were climbing the remote mountain slope to leave small flags there, something believed to bring happiness, according to a local popular legend. – (Reuters)